Chapter 28

**YARA**

*They had me on my knees… Witches. I was surrounded by them and my powers were gone so I couldn’t do anything but stare at them in horror as they loomed over me, chanting something in a language I didn’t understand.

They began to move closer and that was when I realized I couldn’t move. My knees were glued to the ground and my hands were bound by chains that were fixed to the ground. Hyperventilating, I looked up again and as it set in that I couldn’t escape, my heart tightened in my chest while terror clawed its way up my body, pouring down my mouth and nose.

Until I couldn’t breathe.*

I woke up gasping, panicked for a second before realizing I was in Aiden’s suite and the relief that gave me was immeasurable. “Oh my God…” I sat up and heaved a sigh, noting that I was still the only one in the room, before grabbing my phone from my bag to check the time. It was six pm.

*Is Aiden in the living room?* I moved to get off the bed but the moment my feet touched the ground, I stopped. I *had* to tell him what I was. I couldn’t continue to keep it from him. It wasn’t fair to both of us… especially him.

I ran my hand over my face, letting out a harsh breath, before my gaze fell on a note that was on the nightstand. I grabbed it and when I realized it was from Aiden, my mouth twitched into a small smile. It was a note to let me know he had another meeting to get to and that if he wasn’t at the suite when I woke up, he’ll definitely meet me at the restaurant in the hotel in time for our date which was at seven pm.

I got off the bed and headed to the living room to see if he was there but he wasn’t. There was a room service trolley there though and I figured that Aiden had ordered it for me. That made me smile again before my stomach rumbled and I decided to eat a little bit before getting ready for the date and heading to the restaurant.

The trolley had french toast, fresh fruit, maple syrup and chocolate on it and I pulled it closer as I sat on the couch. I opened the warmer box under the round top to see if there was anything else in it and there wasn’t but as I lifted my gaze back up, I caught sight of something between the top and the box. A book… a tome.

I frowned and as I began to pull it out, I saw carvings on the cover. *Huh?* When it was halfway out of the compartment, I finally recognized the carvings, recognized what I was looking at, and my heart slammed against my chest before I shoved the book back in with a force that sent the trolley falling backward.

The trolley and the things on it made an awful clattering sound as they hit the floor while I jumped to my feet and ran around the couch like the book was going to crawl out of its compartment and attack me. Nothing of the sort happened thankfully, but I heard the front door open and that was enough to send my panic level through the roof.

Two men I didn’t know appeared in the living room’s doorway and it felt like my heart wanted to force its way out of my chest while they looked… worried?

“Are you okay?” the dark-haired man asked, taking a step into the living room, and I tipped my head to the side as my breath came out in short spurts.

“…Yes?” My gaze bounced between them as I tried to figure out if they posed a threat but their attention was on our surroundings instead and it seemed like they were searching for something or someone other than me. “Who are you guys?”

“Pack members. Aiden asked us to protect you.”

“Oh,” I muttered before realizing that the dark-haired man was one of the people that came to Aiden’s last night. “*Oh…*” I glanced at the trolley which the other man was focused on and let out a nervous laugh, glad that the tome hadn’t slipped out when it fell. “I’m fine. I accidentally knocked it over.”

The dark-haired man nodded and glanced around the room once more before returning his attention to me. “We’ll call someone to clean it up.”

“Thank you.”

He nodded again before the two of them headed for the front door and the moment I heard it close, I quickly moved over to the trolley and pulled the book out of it.

“What the fuck?” I muttered as I cautiously ran my hand over the carvings in it. “What the fuck?”

It really was my *mother’s* spell book. I glanced at the doorway again before rushing to the bedroom, locking the door behind me. Then my thoughts went haywire.

*How did this get here? Who kept it in the trolley? Did they come into the suite to put it there or was it there when the trolley was brought into the suite? How did they find out I was in this hotel and in this room? Were Elijah and I followed? Did Aiden see the book?*

I stopped pacing and stared at the spell book on the bed. I then shook my head sideways, dismissing the idea that Aiden might have seen it, because if he had, I wouldn’t have met it there. I walked over to the bed and ran my fingers over the carvings on its cover again, checking if whoever had left it here had placed a spell with malicious intent on it but there was no negative energy on it.

Instead of being relieved at that, I only felt confused because the last time I saw the spell book was the day my parents’ died. My aunt had showed up a couple of minutes after they were killed and when she took me to her place, she called the cops who ended up ruling it an animal attack. I hadn’t gone back to the cottage or my parents’ house since that day so I had nothing of my parents… well, except for my powers through which I felt connected to my mom.

Whoever had placed this book in that trolley obviously knew who I was, who my parents were and was most likely one of the people that had killed my parents, and I didn’t exactly know how to feel about that last part. I loved my parents. I missed them dearly and would do anything to have them back but I’d never really thought about their killers.

I flipped the book open to the first page and a smile immediately crept onto my face when I saw five-year old me’s wonky handwriting declaring that this was *mama’s recipe book*. There was also a drawing of stick figures which were meant to represent me and my parents and I choked out a laugh while tears burned my eyes at the memories of my parents.

The next page was also filled with my childish scribbles and I had to wipe away the tears that escaped my eyes before flipping to the next page where a small white card lay.

**Found you, Yara**

That was all it said. There wasn’t a name at the bottom like the one currently on the nightstand next to me and though I didn’t know if the person that kept the spell book in the trolley was truly one of the people that killed my parents, the note filled me with indignation.

My parents had been murdered, I was being *hunted* by witches looking for my dead mother, and now, one of their groups left a message in my mother’s personal book to taunt me.

I got to my feet, scowling, and marched over to the front door. I assumed whoever had kept the note in the book and the book in the trolley was still in the hotel – probably on this floor – and since they did that to get a reaction from me, I’d find them and give them what they wanted. Without stopping to consider the logistics of my plan, I threw open the door to see the two men that came in earlier when I knocked the trolley to the ground and they immediately focused their attention on me, their brows furrowed.

“Is everything alright?”

“I– Yes.” Coming to a stop made me think and thinking made me realize that my plan didn’t make much sense so my rage began to simmer down. I sucked in a breath. “Why are you guys standing here?” I asked before remembering they had said Aiden asked them to protect me. “You can come in.”

“Uh…” The dark-haired man glanced at his friend.

“Please, I insist. Besides, you’d be able to protect me better if you’re closer.”

Like Elijah, they most likely had better things to do but couldn’t reject their Alpha’s request so I couldn’t just leave them standing outside like this. I didn’t even know how long they’d been standing here for.

They shared a look again and when they returned their attention to me, I smiled at them. Then they nodded and walked into the apartment.

“The person who brought the trolley to my room…” I started and they raised their brows. “Can you recognize them if you saw them again?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I…” I couldn’t exactly mention the spell book and unlike Elijah, I couldn’t tell if they knew it was witches they were protecting me from so I didn’t want to mention the note either. “Did Aiden order it for me?” I asked instead and they shrugged.

*Okay then…* “I’m meeting Aiden at the restaurant at seven.”

“We’re aware.”

“Okay.” I plastered a smile on my face and made my way back to the bedroom.